Boeing President and CEO Kelly Ortberg presented a mix bag of industry updates regarding the planemaker’s progress as he spoke at Morgan Stanley Laguna Conference in California.
On September 16, 2026, alongside Chief Financial Officer Jay Malave, Ortberg outlined some of the company’s accomplishments over the last year and identified areas in need of improvement.
Ortberg’s update included discussions on Boeing 737 MAX production/deliveries, MAX 10 certification, and 777X flight tests.
In May 2026, Ortberg told the Bernstein Annual Strategic Decisions Conference in New York that Boeing was “off and rolling at the 47 rate” after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) backed increasing production.
Addressing the 47 rate at Morgan Stanley Laguna, Ortberg said that while Boeing is “now driving at 47 a month” it is not yet “stable”.Ortberg explained that it had taken a “little bit longer” than he had anticipated to increase from 42 to 47 aircraft a month.
According to the Boeing CEO, the company’s supply chain is currently in “really good shape” but “we’re constrained right now is in our wings production”.
“We actually produce all the wings in Renton for the MAX line,” Ortberg said. “And we just have not seen the flow improvements that we expected in the time frame. So, it’s taken us a little bit longer.”
Ortberg has previously stated that his ambition is to reach a production rate of 52 Boeing 737s a month and “someday to a 63-a-month rateDuring his conference speech, he said that once the 47 rate is stabilized and the new production line in Everett, Washington, is certified and producing “then we’ll be ready to move to rate 52”.In August 2026, Boeing confirmed that the MAX 7 had secured type certification from the FAA, leaving only the MAX 10 awaiting approval.
During his presentation, Ortberg said that the MAX 10 is “coming very shortly” adding that Boeing is “knocking down these major milestones on certification”.
“We completed all the flight testing, all the testing, all of the real work is done,” Ortberg said. “Now we’re just in the documentation phase.”Ortberg explained that currently Boeing does not have ETOPS authorization to perform the extended flight test program due to the mid-seal issue on the aircraft’s GE9X engines.